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Juan Gabriel Vasquezbooks include the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin award winner and national bestseller, The Sound of Things Falling, as well as the award-winning The Informers and The Secret History of Costaguana.

An Unknown World

Notes on the Meaning of the Earth

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Overview

The bestselling philosopher’s unforgettable exploration of the true meaning of life on earth, now in paperback for the first time.

What is the purpose of life on earth? In An Unknown World, philosopher Jacob Needleman frames man’s role on the planet in a completely new and fresh way, moving beyond the usual environmental concerns to reveal how the care and maintenance of a world is something vital and basic to our existence as authentic human beings.“Striking . . . takes some really original positions on topics that have become run into the ground by the same discussions and same assumptions.”—Ken Wilbur

“His lively prose, storytelling skills and lucid insights draw us into an animated conversation with a brilliant teacher.”—Publishers Weekly

Praise

2013 Nautilus Books for a Better World Silver winner as Best Ecology/Environment Book

“An immensely learned man who is unembarrassed by the big questions that many of his fellow philosophers prefer to dodge.”—Chicago Tribune

“The first thoughtful author to present the teachings of the new spiritual renaissance to the general public.”—San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle

“For nearly four decades Jacob Needleman has confronted the central questions of our era in light of the vision that lies at the root of the world’s great spiritual traditions. Needleman’s work clarifies: it takes topics that exist in disparate threads throughout our culture—new religions, esoteric Christianity, the founding mythos of America—and frames them in a manner both sensible and deeply questioning.”—Parabola